The treatment of industrial and recreational water supplies to control the growth of algae, fungi, bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms is well-known. A traditional sanitizing method of treating such water is by chlorination. Environmental and end-user objections to chlorine have prompted the use of other compounds as replacements for chlorine in treating water supplies.
One alternative to the chlorination treatment of swimming pool water or other water supplies is the use of a linear polymeric biguanide, e.g., polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride. U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,676 issued to Carter and U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,971 issued to MacLeod et al. describe the use of such biguanide compounds for swimming pool and/or cooling tower water treatment.
Guanidine compounds including biguanides, are well known and are used in a wide variety of applications, such as contact lens cleaners, skin cleansers, biocides, disinfectants, corrosion inhibitors, water clarifiers, etc., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,555 issued to Huth et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,607 issued to Mowrey-McKee et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,352 issued to Riedhammer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,595 issued to Ogunbiyi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,523 issued to Disch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,745 issued to Billany et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,570 issued to Redmore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,398 issued to Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,230 issued to Shapiro et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,615 issued to Wehner and U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,425 issued to Senior.
An object of the present invention is a water treatment method utilizing a polyhexamethylene biguanide-based composition that is particularly well-suited for treatment of turbulent water supplies, such as aerated water.